Hiring a Professional Versus Do-It-Yourself

Posted by Mrs Money on September 3rd, 2010

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At our house, I’m the handywoman and I take care of most home renovation projects. I’ve learned many things, from how to paint to how to install hardwood flooring. A month and a half ago, I decided that our master bedroom needed to be painted and updated. I primed the room, painted the walls, and stopped. The trim in the bedroom includes crown molding, trim around the windows and doors, and a large bay window that extends the length of one wall. My project has stalled, and I’m tired of sleeping in the guest room.

Today at work I ran into two painters. I got one painter’s number but I’m not sure I’m going to call him. I just can’t justify paying someone to do something I can do. It’s just something I don’t want to do. I’d rather spend my time on things that are more fun!

I’ve thought about calling to see if he’ll give me a free quote and then going from there. If it’s not too expensive, it probably would be worth it! I’d rather spend a little money and save the headache. However, if it is more expensive than I think is worth it, I’ll end up painting it myself.

I think it’s funny that I’d even consider using a professional when I’m so focused on saving money. I think there are times when it’s worth spending money to save sanity.

Have you considered hiring a professional versus doing something yourself even though you knew how to do it?

It is often better to just hire a professional just to get a job over with. My father-in-law recently passed away and his backyard has turned from a garden into a jungle. It’s a good 40 minutes from our house and between work, the kids, and trying to fix up our own house…not to mention clean out his…I just don’t have the time to get over there and spend a whole weekend cleaning out the yard. We’re going to get an estimate from a pro.

I’d definitely consider getting a quote. My husband and I have done a few DIY projects in our rental and now we have two unfinished bathrooms. It’s very annoying! (Yes, the landlord should be paying for it, but he’s a complete bum.) So, at this point we may end up having to pay someone to complete them when we decide to move out, or possibly before then.

I’ll do projects myself if it’s prohibitively expensive, but otherwise, I hire someone. I highly value not being stressed. We have hired a biweekly housekeeper and lawn guy. We painted our bottom floor ourselves and I fixed our water heater, but any further painting will probably be done by professionals (I hated it). I’ll also hire people to replace our carpet when we get around to it. So, it’s a mix based on ease factor.

I would definitely consider hiring a professional in some instances. Yeah, I might know how to do it, but maybe I’ve only done it a couple times so I’m slow at it, or I don’t know exactly how to do it without taking a lot of time. Also, the “professional” sometimes has the expensive tools of the trade that help get the job done quickly which you may not want to invest in due to cost, or what would you do with it after you’re done with the one project? That said, there is always the option to rent some tools. I have also been handy around the house all my life, but Mr. A has the muscle, stamina and tools to do the job right, so I often wait around for him to do the job instead of trying to muddle through it on my own. Kudos to you for being so handy!!

I understand how you feel. It took me 3 years to decide on a color for our kitchen. Then, I spent 2 years dreading doing it because the walls were in such bad shape. I was fortunate enough to have my parents to offer to do it for me while I was pregnant.

The problem with hiring someone else to do it is that they usually are not the perfectionist that I am. We’ve hired movers and then ended up with scratches and dents in our furniture. We hired someone to paint the exterior of our house because we could not physically do it. The guy did an adequate job, but we would’ve done a better job.

I think it makes a difference when you’re painting, repairing, etc. something you own and love or if it’s just a job.

Yes, it makes sense to pay professionals for some jobs. I need to hire someone to wash all my windows. I don’t want to spend a day (or more) cleaning screens, windows plus we have a second story.

We did hire someone to paint our downstairs last year and it was well worth it. When we’re ready to do the upstairs I’ll hire again. We have a vaulted ceiling in the bedroom that we just don’t have the equipment to paint properly.

I read the link to the blog from a few years back about your laminate floors. I’m curious, are you still happy with the quality/durability of your costco floors? If you are, what brand did you buy? I’m thinking of redoing my laminate, which was here when I bought it but is pretty torn up.

Two years ago we were exhausted… a small child, extremely crazy busy with work (both of us), and sick off and on which didn’t help. Everything was quietly falling apart around the edges.

So after talking with a famous woman in my field, I took her recommendation and hired a temporary personal assistant (a college student at $8/hr). She took 2 years of bagged recycling to the center, touched up paint on various things, took the goodwill pile to goodwill, and assorted other things much too tiny and numerous to mention. After two weeks at a few hours per week the to-do list we’d had for over 2 years was gone. It was fantastic. If we’re ever in that situation again I will totally do it again. Peace of mind on the cheap.

Yakezie!

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